Starman growled menacingly at his opponent, tail lashing furiously. It had been a while since he'd had a real fight.

The little pokemon he was challenging sat across from him, watching every move he made with intense curiosity. It didn't seem worried, but then, only its head was poking out from the tall grass. Retreat would be easy for him, especially since Serena had no intentions of going off-road alone.

Moving slowly so as not to spook him, the girl scanned him with her pokedex. "Eevee, the evolution pokemon. Thanks to its unstable genetic makeup, this special Pokémon conceals many different possible evolutions."

She'd heard of these guys! Weren't they supposed to be rare?

Eevee's gaze flicked back to her, and she could have sworn he smiled at her. Twitching his ears, he hopped out of the undergrowth, and casually sauntered closer to her until he was nose-to-nose with Starman. The raccoon refused to back off. Raising his hackles, he hissed venomously, showing off rows of glistening fangs.

Still, the stray wasn't intimidated. If anything, it encouraged him. He was barely a foot away from her pokemon, and Serena had no idea what to do. Wild pokemon were seldom this bold... what if he had an owner? She couldn't imagine it would go over well if she attacked him unprovoked. What would she say, anyways? 'Oh, I'm sorry sir. I thought your ridiculously sociable eevee was a wild animal that I could capture. I hope you have enough trainer's insurance to cover his medical bills!'

It wasn't like he was doing anything harmful. So far, he was sitting there, looking smug. Starman was pissed, but then, he was always pissed.

In fact, his behavior had been so benign, it took the girl a moment or two to process what happened next. One second, her zigzagoon was standing tall, ready for battle. The next, he was gone.

Well, perhaps not gone. Rather, he was pinned, crushed, even, beneath the eevee. No matter how innocent he may have looked, it quickly became clear that the pokemon was quite devious. She wouldn't have expected a sneak attack like that from a dark type!

The sudden blow had knocked Starman out cold, and since eevee was blocking her attempts to call him back, she decided to send out another pokemon to battle him.

He was mocking her, she could tell from the stupid way he twitched his ears! Snatching a pokemon off her belt, she called out Fen. This time, she didn't wait for eevee to make the first move."Fen! Flame charge!"

Eevee took one look at the rapidly-approaching ball of flame, and beat a hasty retreat into the woods. Having no intentions of causing a forest fire, Fen screeched to a halt. Then, she looked to her trainer, awaiting instructions.

"It's okay, girl, come on back." The fox barked, and trotted back to her.

Starman was beginning to stir now, groggily shaking his head. Even though he'd been knocked out, he was back on his feet within a couple of seconds. Save for a small bump on his head, he was completely back to normal, albeit a little more angry than usual.

Just to make sure he was okay, Serena rifled through her bag for a potion. She was hoping to get a bit more training done today, and it would be better if she didn't have to go back to the pokemon centre already. If anything, her zigzagoon just wanted to get a move on already. He even lightly snapped at her when she tried to apply the poultice to him.

With it half rubbed into his fur, he'd had enough, and charged a ways down the path, far out of reach.

"Okay, fine!" She called, "See? I'm putting away the potion."

The raccoon watched her do it, and then nodded approvingly. He ran most of the way back to her, excitedly barking and skipping in circles. She called him back, and was about to do the same for Fen, when the little fox smacked her pokeball out of Serena's hand.

She whined a little, giving her best puppy-dog eyes. And, since she was a dog of sorts, they were very persuasive.

Crouching down in front of her, she asked: "You don't want to go back?"

Fen nodded sharply.

Sighing deeply, Serena began to rub at her temples. "Well, I suppose it's alright for now..."

With an excited bark, the pokemon launched itself onto her shoulder. Ash and his pikachu must have been a bad influence. Having her starter draped over her trapezoid was an odd feeling, but the girl couldn't say she disliked it. Although, she would admit she was a bit scared that the fox might dig her claws in. That would hurt.

Keeping that in mind, Serena began to walk again. She moved at a slower pace than before, but she was more than content to keep an eye on the scenery. Coastal Kalos was a beautiful place, after all. Besides, it would be easier to spot wild pokemon this way, wouldn't it? More pokemon, more battles. More battles, more experience.

Still, what she really wanted was a good trainer battle. Wild pokemon weren't really known for their strategic prowess, after all. What was that saying? Mind over matter?

When she saw another trainer in the distance, though, she leapt at the opportunity for a good scrap. Supporting Fen with one hand, she sprinted towards her.

However, she almost stopped when she realized what the woman was doing. She was battling something -although Serena couldn't see what- and wasn't really paying attention to anything else. While Serena was only a few yards away, she hadn't noticed her, and the girl didn't want to startle her.

Suddenly, the woman whipped out a pokeball and lobbed it into the tall grass. Seconds later, she went in after it.

Serena decided to wait for her to come back. With any luck, the other girl would see her after leaving the bush, and, per league rules, challenge her to a pokemon battle.

She wasn't waiting for long. Not a minute later, the woman came stomping out of the bush, looking thoroughly disappointed, and instantly, she noticed the other trainer.

In the span of two seconds, her mood did a complete one-eighty. "Another trainer? We're going to have to battle, then." Grabbing a ball off of her belt, she prepared to send out her first pokemon.

"Well, Fen, you heard the lady!" Her starter leapt off her shoulder, and into the ring.

The fox was quickly acquainted with her opponent: a strange, floating creature sealed tightly in green slime.

Her pokemon glanced back at her for a moment, obviously as unnerved as she was. A (hopefully) encouraging smile later, and Fen turned back to her match.

Just in time, too. "Duosion!" The woman called. "Psyshock!"

Hurtling to the right, Fen dodged the attack by a hair.

"Use ember!"

The fox darted underneath the psychic-type, launching fire into its underbelly. It never hit, bouncing harmlessly off of duosion's protect. Irked, Fen struck out with her claws, tearing through the delicate cytoplasm.

The mitosis pokemon shrieked, quickly pulling away. With some distance gained, it struck out with a second psyshock.

"Counter with flame charge!"

As their attacks connected, both pokemon were sent flying back, once again leaving them on opposite ends of the field. Duosion was faster on the recovery, hitting the fennekin hard with confusion. Then, as she was reeling from that, the psychic used rollout. With every hit, Fen's condition dropped hugely. But, Serena wasn't about to give up, and neither was her pokemon.

Steadying herself, the fox bathed her opponent in white-hot flames. Awkwardly, the other pokemon flopped out of the air, gracelessly crashing into the ground. Fen had no plans of letting it recover.

She slammed into duosion with a powerful flame charge, scratching and biting the whole time. Beneath her, the cell-like creature flailed helplessly.

Suddenly, the woman began to shout."I yeild!"

Immediately, Fen backed off, allowing the duosion to flee. Its trainer met it half way, whispering comforting words to the battered creature.

Serena did much the same. "You did great." She told Fen, as she treated her wounds. "Good match!" She called over to her rival.

The woman nodded. "Your fennekin is pretty tough."

"Thanks!"

"Are you going to challenge the gym with her?"

"Cyllage gym?" Chuckling, she shook her head. "I'm not that brave."

"No bravery required. That lileep is a brat, and fire works pretty well against him."

Serena cocked her head. "Really?"

"Yeah. My braixen took him down, no problem."

"Braixen, huh?" The girl looked down at her starter. She wasn't sure how Fen would fare like this, but maybe, if she evolved...

"You don't know them?" She sounded surprised. "It's fennekin's first evolution."

"No, I've heard of them." The fox looked up at her oddly. It wasn't what she'd call a happy look. In fact, Serena would be hard-pressed to describe it. "I've never seen one in person, that's all."

"I'm not surprised. Since mine evolved, he's been pretty camera shy."

"Why's that?"

She shrugged. "I can't speak for all of them, but mine hates how effeminate he looks right now. I'm trying to evolve him again as quickly as possible."

Curious, Serena looked up braixen on her holocaster. "Yeah, I can see how that could be awkward for a guy." Scratching Fen's ears, she laughed. "I guess you don't have to worry about that, though, do you Fen?" The fox whimpered.

"Oh, that's a female? Lucky!" The woman ran her fingers through her hair. "I bet she'd be great for cute contests. My boy absolutely refuses to do anything but tough." She sighed. "It's a nightmare! Cute psychic monsters are so rare!"

Suddenly, Serena had an idea. "What are your thoughts on espurr?"

"You mean the purple cat-things?" She thought for a moment. "Yeah, I guess they're kind of cute. They kind of look scared, though."

"Would you like one?"

"I mean, sure, but I've never seen one in real life."

Serena, on the other hand, had seen far too many since starting her journey. "If you want, I can trade you one." She didn't mention the fact she had a spare.

"That would be great!" Suddenly, the woman looked crestfallen. "But I don't have anything to trade for it." Stroking her chin, she piped up: "How about this- are you staying at the pokemon centre in Cyllage?"

"Yes...?" She was weary about giving details to a stranger, even if it was something obvious like that.

"Me too. Why don't I catch something out here, and then trade it for espurr?"

So long as it wasn't a pidgey, that sounded fine. "Sure thing. See you around!"

"Wait... what's your name?"

The girl looked back at her. "Serena."

"It was nice meeting you, Serena." She offered her hand. "I'm Emily."

Shaking her hand, she replied. "Nice to meet you, too."

Then, they went their separate ways. They had work to do, after all. Maybe Serena would be able to find that eevee from earlier. Maybe one of her pokemon would evolve. She'd feel much more confident if that happened, actually. People were always telling her that basic pokemon were weak, but all her pokemon were like that! It was playing merry hell with her confidence.

It was then she decided something. She didn't care how long it took, she wasn't going to challenge that gym until one of her pokemon evolved.

A/N: I am so sorry I was unable to upload this last week! My account was hit by a bug that prevented me from using the doc manager. It seems like it was fixed, so updates should continue as normal for now. If this happens again, check Ao3's (Archive of Our Own) pokemon section for story updates. A friend of mine just got an account there, and said they'd upload it should there be another incident.